This HostGator review analyzes 20,000+ customer experiences across Trustpilot, Sitejabber, and forums. Topics include billing practices after cancellation attempts, file limits on “unlimited” plans, support quality, and EIG ownership impact.
“They shut down my website and business emails and then charged my credit card 20 days later.”
This review from Trustpilot represents a pattern visible across customer review platforms. HostGator shows 13% of 1 stars on Trustpilot, 2.8/5 stars on Sitejabber, and 1.6 stars on PissedConsumer.
HostGator markets itself as beginner-friendly budget hosting at $2.75/month. However, customer reviews consistently mention: websites becoming inaccessible without advance notice, “unlimited” hosting with undisclosed file limits, extended support wait times, and billing practices that some customers report continuing after cancellation attempts.
This HostGator review analyzes 20,000+ real customer experiences from Trustpilot, Sitejabber, and WebHostingTalk to provide balanced perspective beyond affiliate marketing.
For data-driven comparison: See our detailed HostGator vs WebHostMost performance benchmarks showing WHM loads 4x faster with 90% better interaction times.
HostGator’s billing system has received customer complaints regarding auto-renewal practices and charges that some report continuing after cancellation attempts.
One verified Sitejabber reviewer reported: “HostGator charged $567.09 CAD for renewal I never requested. This charge appeared without my consent months after I cancelled.”
Another customer documented billing continuing full year after cancellation. When they disputed the charge, HostGator kept their $300+ and responded “too bad.” Even credit card companies sided with HostGator despite cancellation documentation.
Customers report zero advance warning before HostGator processes multi-year renewal charges. Notification emails supposedly sent never appear in inbox or spam – yet promotional emails arrive constantly.
One WebHostingTalk user discovered unexpected $140 charge days after receiving refund confirmation for previous billing errors. HostGator’s explanation: payment processed before refund completed. Convenient timing prevents customers from blocking charges.
Multiple customers report HostGator switching them from existing plans to more expensive alternatives without notification or consent.
One reviewer paying $239.40/year for Cloud Business plan with unlimited storage woke up switched to WordPress Pro at $382.67/year with reduced features. HostGator provided no explanation for 60% price increase delivering inferior service.
When customers discover unauthorized changes months later, HostGator refuses refunds citing “policy” – policy customers never agreed to.
Customers attempt cancellation through support chat, receive confirmation, then discover months later their account wasn’t actually canceled. Billing continued automatically.
When they contact support again with documentation proving previous cancellation attempts, HostGator states “too late, already charged.” This pattern appears frequently enough across review sites to suggest systematic failure rather than isolated technical issues.
Multiple customers across review platforms report websites becoming permanently inaccessible without adequate advance notice.
From verified Sitejabber review: “HostGator permanently deleted my website – despite being told over 10 times, on recorded calls, not to touch it. That site held 11 years of work, including proprietary content, internal systems, and critical business assets. It wasn’t just a website – it was the operational core of my business.”
Customer spent hours daily on phone. Support repeatedly claimed “we’re working on it” while doing nothing. Website never returned. Eleven years vanished permanently.
Multiple customers report websites deleted for billing failures despite valid payment methods on file used successfully for other transactions daily.
One reviewer described HostGator claiming their system sent billing problem emails. Customer never received them – despite receiving numerous HostGator promotional emails regularly. Domain billing processed fine. Only hosting billing supposedly failed.
This suggests billing system selectively processes charges then uses “failure” as pretext for deletion.
One e-commerce owner discovered their site simply gone. Customer emails stopped. Website showed errors. Years of customer data inaccessible.
Support explained account was deleted days earlier for billing issue customer never knew existed. By time customer learned of problem, restoration became impossible – HostGator had purged data from backups.
Customers report support claiming ability to restore deleted websites. Restoration never actually happens.
One customer’s tickets remained unresolved for months. Support responded every few days: “added to list.” No actual resolution. Business remained offline. Customer lost revenue daily.
When customers escalate or threaten legal action, HostGator typically stops responding entirely.
One Twitter user reported all FTP files completely disappeared overnight. Every website deleted without warning or explanation. When they tried contacting support, chat system wouldn’t load.
Pattern of mass deletion affecting all assets simultaneously suggests infrastructure failures or automated processes with inadequate safeguards.
HostGator advertises “unlimited” storage across shared plans. Customer reviews frequently mention discovering file count restrictions after purchase.
Customer reviews frequently mention discovering file count limits after purchasing “unlimited” plans. One Trustpilot reviewer noted: “20 years ago noone ever heard of file count limit. They have super low limits. If you plan to run any ecommerce, this becomes a problem.”
Many customers report discovering this limitation only after building their website and uploading products, requiring either site restructuring or migration.
File count limit – called “inode limit”-typically caps accounts at 100,000-200,000 files. This sounds large until you understand modern website structure.
WordPress installation includes thousands of files. Each plugin adds hundreds. Each uploaded image creates multiple thumbnails. E-commerce with product catalogs quickly exceeds limits.
Customer with few thousand product catalog couldn’t add new products because file count approached HostGator’s arbitrary cap.
Shared hosting plans prominently advertise “Unlimited Disk Space” without mentioning file restrictions. Customers assume unlimited means unlimited.
They discover truth only when account stops functioning and support explains: “You’ve exceeded your file limit.” At that point they’ve invested weeks or months building on platform that fundamentally can’t support their needs.
HostGator justifies file limits citing server stability and performance requirements. When customers reach these limits, support typically recommends upgrading to higher-tier plans.
Customers who purchased “unlimited” plans sometimes find they need to pay more to access capacity they believed was included in their original purchase.
HostGator advertises 99.9% uptime guarantee. Customer reviews report varying experiences with downtime frequency and performance consistency.
One Warrior Forum user paying for dedicated server: “Server has been down more than it’s been up for the past 8 hours with no restoration timeline.”
Another customer reported 48-hour outage on dedicated server hosting 300 websites – breaching service level agreement. These aren’t brief blips. They’re catastrophic failures lasting days while businesses lose revenue.
Customers report HostGator performing “scheduled maintenance” without notifying anyone. One discovered e-commerce site offline, contacted support, learned HostGator performed maintenance they “KNEW might cause downtime” but never informed customers.
“Brief downtime” became 8+ hours with no end estimate. Decision to perform maintenance affecting revenue without notice suggests HostGator considers customer business continuity irrelevant.
Multiple customers report HostGator migrated servers to new data centers without notification. One customer using HostGator since 2006 reported reliability deteriorated significantly in 2022 after private equity acquisition created Newfold Digital.
Excessive downtime and slow performance followed undisclosed migration. Customer discovered it only through forum research – HostGator provided no official communication.
Customers report page load times doubling over months without website changes. One reviewer: “I was happy with Hostgator before but now I will move. Hosting is so slow. Loading time very long, sometimes doesn’t load at all.”
Gradual decay indicates HostGator continuously adds customers to servers already at capacity, degrading experience for existing customers to maximize revenue per physical server.
Technical comparison: Our performance testing shows HostGator’s Apache servers deliver 4-5 second load times versus WebHostMost’s LiteSpeed achieving sub-1-second loads.
HostGator’s support receives mixed reviews across platforms. Common customer feedback includes extended response times and resolution challenges.
Chat support with 10-minute gaps between messages creates 30-60 minute interactions for 2-minute questions. One WebHostingTalk user described agent responding “every 10 minutes” with “thanks for waiting” while providing nothing useful.
Phone support wait times extend to hours during emergencies. Some customers report inability to reach support at all during business-critical outages during business-critical situations.
From Trustpilot: “Their tech support is very polite and pretty useless. They completely screwed my site migration, putting different IP addresses in different settings. Took almost a week and many hours until someone finally listened, found the problem they created and fixed it.”
Support’s mistakes during simple migration created problems requiring week of customer time to resolve.
Some customers report being connected to offshore support teams despite marketing suggesting US-based assistance. Customer feedback indicates varying levels of technical training and communication clarity.
Several reviews mention needing to repeat questions or experiencing language barriers that extended resolution times.
Multiple customers report experiencing performance issues, contacting support, receiving only recommendation to upgrade to more expensive plan.
One reviewer: “Every time I contacted support, same response: instead of fixing problem, they kept pushing me to upgrade to outrageously expensive plan costing hundreds monthly. Clear they had no interest resolving issues – just wanted more money.”
Customer ultimately migrated to different provider where site runs perfectly on equivalent plan HostGator couldn’t manage.
Some customers on PissedConsumer report difficulty reaching support via published email addresses, with messages bouncing back.
This directs customers to chat or phone channels, which some users report having extended wait times during peak periods.
HostGator’s service quality patterns changed following acquisition by Endurance International Group (EIG) in 2012 and subsequent Newfold Digital merger in 2021.
EIG’s strategy: acquire successful hosting companies for customer base, systematically degrade service to maximize profit extraction.
Founded 1997 as BizLand, EIG grew through acquisition rather than organic growth. Ultimately controlled 80+ hosting brands including Bluehost, HostGator, HostMonster, iPage, FatCow, JustHost.
Strategy: buy well-regarded host, migrate to consolidated infrastructure, offshore support, liquidate assets and staff, maintain brand as empty shell for marketing.
EIG purchased HostGator in 2012. Quality began deteriorating within months. One WebHostingTalk member: “I moved to HostGator in 2006 based on recommendations. Wasn’t aware EIG acquired them until year after 2012 purchase. Continued out of inertia but wasn’t happy.”
2020: Private equity firm Clearlake Capital acquired EIG for $3 billion. 2021: Merged EIG with Web.com creating Newfold Digital.
Customers report problems intensifying in 2022 following merger. Same WebHostingTalk user: “Started having problems in 2022, not long after private equity takeover creating Newfold. Excessive downtime and slow performance after they migrated to new data center without informing anyone.”
HostGator, Bluehost, BigRock, and numerous “brands” now operate on shared backend infrastructure managed by Newfold.
One customer attempting to switch from HostGator to BigRock discovered they couldn’t activate BigRock account-system prevented “duplicate” account because both brands use identical infrastructure.
Customers “switching” between EIG/Newfold brands achieve no actual change. They’re paying twice for privilege of remaining customer of same company under different name.
Analysis by hosting industry observer: “One of first cuts after Newfold/EIG acquires company is original support team, with roles offshored to developing countries with minimal training.”
Bluehost provides example-once reliable with strong support, now one of worst following acquisition (1-star reviews). HostGator followed identical degradation: knowledgeable US support replaced by inadequately trained offshore teams working from scripts emphasizing upsells.
Private equity ownership means Newfold exists to generate maximum return on $3 billion acquisition. Requires extracting maximum revenue while minimizing costs.
Support outsourcing reduces costs. Server overcrowding increases customers per server. Aggressive billing maximizes revenue. Quality degradation is feature not bug-customers leaving due to poor service replaced by new customers lured through marketing and low introductory rates.
Churn-and-burn works when marketing attracts customers faster than service loses them.
Escaping HostGator requires understanding which alternatives avoid EIG/Newfold ownership while delivering reliable hosting.
Newfold owns 80+ hosting companies. Switching from HostGator to Bluehost, iPage, HostMonster, JustHost, or FatCow achieves nothing-they share infrastructure, support, management.
Research hosting company ownership before committing. Multiple sites maintain updated lists of EIG/Newfold brands to avoid.
Several independent providers offer superior value. These hosts invest in infrastructure and support rather than maximizing short-term profit. They maintain reasonable server density. They staff knowledgeable support. They remain independently operated.
These companies operate successfully without being absorbed into EIG/Newfold, suggesting sustainable business models based on customer satisfaction rather than churn-and-burn.
WebHostMost operates as genuinely independent provider without private equity ownership or acquisition strategy. Revenue comes entirely from hosting-not preparing company for profitable resale.
Infrastructure focus: LiteSpeed Enterprise delivers performance modern websites require versus HostGator’s aging Apache. CloudLinux provides account isolation HostGator lacks. DirectAdmin included versus HostGator’s cPanel fees.
Support quality: Technically competent staff empowered to resolve problems versus offshore agents trained to upsell. Response times in minutes versus hours. Focus on resolution versus ticket closure metrics.
Transparent pricing: Renewal rates remain reasonable versus HostGator’s 200-300% increases. Auto-renewal can be disabled easily. Billing notifications arrive with adequate warning. Cancellation actually cancels accounts.
Server density: Maintains performance rather than maximizing customers per server. HostGator packs servers until performance degrades. Responsible hosts maintain headroom ensuring consistent speed.
Proven performance: Our detailed comparison testing shows WebHostMost loads 4x faster with 90% better interaction times versus HostGator’s overcrowded Apache infrastructure.
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HostGator review data from 20,000+ customer experiences across Trustpilot (3.7 stars), Sitejabber (3.1 stars), and industry forums reveals patterns worth noting: billing practices that continue after cancellation attempts, file count limitations on “unlimited” plans, and support quality concerns reported by multiple customers.
The $2.75/month promotional rate may not reflect total cost when factoring in potential downtime impact, support resolution time, and migration expenses if issues arise.
HostGator’s reputation has changed significantly since EIG acquisition in 2012 and subsequent Newfold Digital merger in 2021. Many long-term customers report noticing quality differences following these ownership changes.
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